Travelling Soldier
by scififanfreak222
Summary: My 1st songfic! Kori and Dick meet in one day and fall madly in love. Unfortunately, they meet only two days before Dick has to go to war. Will their love survive? Or, will Dick? Travelling Soldier by The Dixie Chicks.


My first songfic! Please be nice to me!

xscifi :)

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**Travelling Soldier**

Richard 'Dick' Grayson sighed as he looked himself in the mirror.

He was wearing his army uniform and it had only been two days since his eighteenth birthday. Two days until he had to leave Jump for Vietnam …

He decided to take a ride to his favourite café to clear up his head.

Still wearing his army jacket, hat and trousers, he walked out the door and up the street to the bus stop.

When he got there, he sat down in a small booth where he could be on his own.

"Can I get you anything?" a red haired girl with a bow in her hair asked.

"Yeah, just a coffee and a …" he trailed off as he saw how pretty she was.

* * *

_Two days passed eighteen,_

_He was waiting for the bus in his army greens,_

_Sat down in a booth at a café there,_

_Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair._

* * *

Kori smiled at the boy when he trailed off.

He must be shy, she thought as she jotted down his order.

She turned to walk away but his voice stopped her.

"Would you mind sitting down for a while and talking to me?" Richard said. "I'm feeling a little low."

Kori smiled at him. "I'm off in an hour," she said. "And I know where we can go."

* * *

_He's a little shy, so she gave him a smile,_

_And he said, "Would you mind sitting down for a while and_

_talking to me, I'm feeling a little low."_

_She said, "I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go."_

* * *

Richard stayed seated in the booth as he waited for Kori to finish her shift at the café.

He sighed as he watched her smile at customers and wait on tables, and every so often she'd brush her lovely red hair out of her pretty face.

She gestured for him to follow her when she was ready to leave, and they walked to the pier together, Kori in the lead.

Richard found himself telling Kori about how scared he was about going to Vietnam and Kori opened up about how she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay in high school. And ever so slowly, they both realised that they were falling for each other, even though they'sd only met earlier that day. Then they started joking and laughing about relationships they'd been in in the past.

"I bet you got a boyfriend," Richard smiled. "But I don't care, I've got no one to send a letter to." He looked at her. "Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?"

* * *

____

_So they went down and they sat on the pier,_

_He said, "I bet you got a boyfriend, but I don't care_

_I've got no one to send a letter to._

_Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?"_

_I, I cried._

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy._

"_Too young for him," they told her. _

"_Waiting for the love of a travelling soldier."_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again._

_Nevermore to be alone, when the letter says,_

"_A soldier's coming home."_

Kori woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, a smile planted on her beautiful face. She shrugged into her nightgown and ran down the stairs, out the door and to the mailbox.

* * *

Sure enough, there was a letter waiting there, as there always was.

It was addressed to Miss Kori Anders in Jump City from an army camp in Vietnam. The letters used to come from California, but Richard had been transferred.

Taking a deep breath, Kori opened the letter in her bedroom.

"Hey, Kori," it read. "Everything's fine over here. Garfield found out that he's being sent home in a months' time. Betcha Rachel will be happy about that! Kori, I've got the scariest news. Last night, the camp was bombed by 'the enemy'. Nobody died, although there are a few guys missing, but we found most of them. Victor lost his arm in the blast, he's being patched up right as I write this, he's being sent home with Gar. We couldn't find Wally after the blast. We don't know whether we should tell Jinny or not, whoever will tell her has a tough job, they ARE a couple, after all. Roy has fallen in love with a very pretty Vietnamese girl. Her name is Jade, and watching them together makes me think of what we'll be like when I come home. Roy says he leaving the army and he's asked Jade to marry him, we've all agreed to come to their wedding. Kori, in many ways, I'm afraid of everything out there. The guns, the weapons, the deaths, everything. But I've found myself coming to love all of the things I'm so scared of. Except, of course, when it started getting rough over here. But every time we're out doing a patrol of the area, or practicing with our guns, I think of that day we sat down by the pier together, you, and your pretty smile. I'm being transferred again soon, so don't worry, but I won't be able to write for a while.

I love you,

Dick."

Kori smiled as she pressed the letter close to her heart.

* * *

_______So the letters came from an army camp_

_in California, then Vietnam and he told her how his heart_

_might be lovin' all of the things he was so scared of._

"'_Cept when it's getting kinda rough over here._

_I think of that day sitting down at the pier and I close my eyes, and see your pretty smile._

_Don't worry, but I won't be able to write for a while."_

* * *

"Hey, Kori?" Kori's older sister Kammie asked as she poked her head round the side of the door. "Can I borrow your hairbr-"

Flustered as the door opened, Kori stuffed the letter under her pillow.

"Still writing letters to 'soldier boy'?" Kammie sneered, grabbing the letter out from Kori's pillow before she had the chance to grab it first.

"'Don't worry, but I won't be able to write for a while,'" Kammie read aloud. She frowned. "That's right. They say that the war is getting even more dangerous. A guy in my class was killed a couple of weeks ago." she looked at her sister seriously. "You're wasting your time with this guy Kori, you're too young for him. You should be out dating guys and going to parties, not waiting for the love of a travelling soldier!" she sighed, her voice actually becoming nice and tender for once. "Kori? Just don't expect him to be coming home anytime soon."

And with that, Kammie grabbed the hairbrush and walked out of the door.

Only then did Kori hug the letter to her heart and cry.

Because she knew just how right her sister actually was.

* * *

________

_I, I cried._

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy._

"_Too young for him," they told her. _

"_Waiting for the love of a travelling soldier."_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again._

_Nevermore to be alone, when the letter says,_

"_A soldier's coming home."_

"Come on, Kori!" Gar laughed, taking his friend's hand and giving it a yank. "Just one game! The Jump City Jaguars are playing the Steel City Jets! Come on, please come! Do it for me as a 'coming home' present!"

Kori laughed, and let Gar lead her to the football stadium, Rachel, wearing her bright red marching uniform (giving her the nickname 'Red) and holding her piccolo, was on his arm.

Originally Rachel had not wanted to be in the marching band, she'd only done it to be with Gar, who was the team's mascot. She'd been so happy since Gar had come home, and Vic had been reunited with Karen Beecher, a Steel City cheerleader and Vic's girlfriend.

Watching her friends so happy together made Kori think about what it would be like when Richard got home. They'd had it all planned. Once Kori had finished high school and college, the two would move in together and later get married, maybe even have a few kids. Kori was secretly hoping for twins.

They got to the football stadium and saw Victor in the middle of the playing field, trying his hardest not to go near Karen. As the star quarter back of the football team, and having finally gotten the hang of his artificial arm, Vic's team mates had forbidden him from talking to 'the enemy' until after the game.

Gar and Rachel said their goodbyes to Kori to go join their band mates. Kori took a seat next to Jinny Xavier, also know to her friends as 'Jinx'. Jinny gushed about how the soldiers had found Wally, and how he was being sent home because of a lot of injuries he'd sustained over the five days he'd been missing.

The game started with the audience, players, cheerleaders and bandmates singing the national anthem and saying their prayers.

Afterwards, a man stood up on the podium stand and said, "Folks, would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead."

* * *

* * *

__________

_One Friday night at a football game,_

_The Lord's prayer said and the anthem sang,_

_A man said, "Folks, would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead."_

The game was postponed, because a lot of people in the audience and the players had lost somebody.

Rachel was crying all alone under the stands because she'd found out that her brothers Jared, Jesse and Jacob had been killed in an explosion. She wouldn't even let Gar console her, which made him feel terrible.

Victor had lost his father in an unexpected ambush, and he was now crying into Karen's shoulder.

And one name in particular was read aloud. He'd been killed trying to save another man, his best friend, Roy. But nobody cared about that, Kori realised, because he'd once told her that he had no family left. _Nobody really cares_, Kori thought miserably, tears trickling down her cheeks as she adjusted her bow. _He always told me how he felt, but I never told him back ..._

This made Kori cry even harder.

* * *

_____________Crying all alone_

_under the stands,_

_Was a piccolo player from the marching band,_

_And one name read, but nobody really cared._

_Except a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair._

* * *

(A/N: I don't care if this makes this 'not a songfic'! I'm changing the end of this story! I can't let Kori live with this pain, NO WAY! So, here's how I'M going to end the song.)

**5 months later ...**

"Hey, Kori," a cute guy with a green eyes and balck hair smiled. "I was wondering, would you go out with me?"

Kori's face fell at the boy's question.

"I'm sorry, Jamie," she said. "I'm not really up for dating right now ..."

Jamie nodded in understanding. Kori had been turning everybody down since finding out about Richard. He apologised for his question and walked away, leaving Kori alone with her thoughts.

When she got home, she noticed that the tail on the mailbox was pointing up the way.

There was a letter inside, and it was addressed to a certain Miss Kori Anders. Kori's heart nearly stopped when she saw which address it was from.

Slowly, she opened it, and her heart just about filled with joy when she read its contents.

"Hey, Kori," it read. "I'm finally getting to go home! I'll see you at the chapel first thing on Sunday morning. Bring your family, and all of your friends. On Sunday we're making it official.

I love you,

Dick."

Then the tears came pouring down her cheeks.

* * *

______________

_I, I cried._

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy._

_"Too young for him," they told her._

_"Waiting for the love of a travelling soldier."_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again._

_Nevermore to be alone when the letter says,_

_"A soldier's coming home."_

* * *

Fifty-year-old Kori Grayson smiled as she looked out the window of she and Richard's home. Their grand-children were playing tag in their huge garden. and their twins, Mar'i and Scott, were telling their children not to hurt themselves.

This made Kori think about how she'd gotten everything she'd ever wanted. A big house, twins, grand-children, and most of all, her travelling soldier to come back home again.

Richard was sitting in a rocking chair with their grand-daughter, Lucy, on his lap. He was telling her about how scary it had been while he was in the war, a story Lucy would never get tired of hearing.

When Lucy went away, Kori went over to her husband and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"What was that for?" Richard asked.

"For making out of the war. Alive and a hero," Kori replied.

And he kissed her the same way he had the day they'd gotten married in the little chapel on the outskirts of Jump.

* * *

_______________I, I cried._

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy._

_"Too young for him," they told her._

_"Waiting for the love of a travelling soldier."_

_Our love will never end,_

_Waiting for the soldier to come back again._

_Nevermore to be alone when the letter says,_

_"A soldier's coming home."_

**The End :)**


End file.
